Saturday, April 8, 2017

Just One More Reason to Move to Texas...

On April 7th, California had the fourth highest gasoline taxes in America. And, due to other excise and use taxes, among the very highest gas prices in the Nation. That's why when a gallon of gas costs $1.65 in Oklahoma, or Nebraska, or Tennessee, it's just about One Dollar Higher here in the once-Golden State.CA also boasts among the very highest vehicle registration and license fees in America. That's why it's in the Top Ten in terms of the annual cost to own and operate a car. But now, due to a brand-spanking new law passed by Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown and his legislative sycophants in that jerkwater town known unaffectionately as Sacramento, all that has changed. Brown just signed into effect the very largest gas tax and vehicle license and registration tax increase in America's history. That would be...ready for it?......$52 Billion Dollars over the next ten years!Now, I don't care where you come from, even if it's the very largest state in the Country. But a $52 Billion increase is one Hell of a lot of money, especially if it's on top of an already costly burden. That works out to a 12 cents a gallon increase in gas taxes, to 62.62 cents, or 13 cents more than the next highest state. And, an increase of 20 cents for diesel. And, due to the new bump in fees and taxes, we'll soon be getting hosed to the tune of another $25.00 to $175.00 annual increase in vehicle registration and license fees, to the top screw job in America. And don't think driving one of those weenie little electric go carts will free you up from having your pocket picked. If you're plagued by one of those, you're getting screwed to the tune of another $100.00 per year, just because you're not paying gas taxes, so you need to pay something to ride around on our roads, right?This new bag of tricks is called the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, and it kicks in on November 1, 2017. Owing to the Democrat's supermajority stranglehold on our legislative apparatus here, they were able to pass this nightmare without a single Republican vote. And without you and me having a say as to whether or not it should pass. I guess we're only necessary to keep paying for the mistakes these bozos keep making.Brown and Company tell us they're going to use this newfound pot of cash to pay for much-needed road and bridge and interchange repairs. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, considering ours are some of the very worst in the entire Nation. Exceppppppt, the gas taxes we've been paying all along were supposed to be going into a pot to pay for roads and bridges and related infrastructure. So, what, I ask, rhetorically, happened to that money?Yeah, what?No one seems to know. My own personal opinion is that this is either going to be earmarked to cover our hundreds of billions of dollars of union pension shortfalls, or be directed to cover it in the future. But what I know is that living here in this tattered paradise has just become too expensive for all but those who supp at the public trough. And I don't.How about you?